101.5 FM Homer/Cortland, NY
Lily Byrne, X101 News:
Public hearings have been scheduled for the Cortlandville Town Board meeting on June 3 for the proposed local laws on solar energy systems and battery energy storage systems.
It will be a lengthy meeting and presentation, said Town Board member Glenn Reisweber.
“I know everybody likes to get out of here in an hour, but it’s not going to happen,” Reisweber said. “Since I’ve been here, for two years and six months, we have not done two major laws. This is 75 pages of law… Get comfy, it’s going to be a while.”
The Public Hearings are a result of two projects presented to the Cortlandville Planning Board, both on Carr Hill Road. The projects, OMNI Cortlandville Solar LLC, and Zogg East & West, both propose to build solar fields, with Zogg also proposing battery storage facilities. OMNI Cortlandville Solar LLC looks to construct a nearly 24 acre solar field at 3877 Carr Hill Road, with just over 11,500 solar panels. Zogg East & West is being developed by CP Cortlandville One LLC, an affiliate of ClearPath Energy LLC of Boston.
The Cortlandville Town Board also discussed a petition signed by residents of Highland Road, who request the speed limit in the residential area be lowered from 40 m.p.h. to 30, two more speed limit signs, warning signs with flashing red lights be placed at both ends of the road, and a flashing red light at the junction from Highland Road to Hoy Road.
“I’ve read the supporting documents from the state,” Town Supervisor Greg Leach said. “Setting the speed limit may not fix the problem. I don’t want to get into areas I’m not an expert on, but I was talking to the sheriff up, and they’ve been monitoring and writing tickets up there.”
“It doesn’t sound like we have the authority to do it,” Town Board member Sunday Earle said.
Town Highway Superintendent Larry Drach said the requested measures don’t typically help reduce speed. Leach said they will continue looking into it.
Also at the meeting, the Cortlandville Town Board acknowledged a draft of a proposed local law affecting a temporary moratorium on the development, construction, and operation of data centers in Cortlandville.
The proposed law will get passed down to the Cortland County Planning Department, and will likely be further dealt with in late June or early July, Town Attorney Fran Casullo said.

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